State advocacy grants

• States requesting funding must be able to participate in advocacy activities according to their tax status with the IRS and any applicable state regulations.

• The grant application must be strictly for advocacy purposes — to influence legislation and/or regulatory issues or to develop such initiatives.

• AADA will not approve any grant applications for proposals that are not aligned with the AADA’s state policy priorities and that are not dermatology-specific.

• Each grantee will be required to submit a final written report (PDF download) to the AADA outlining the status of its advocacy project and progress made to date. AADA staff will provide reminders to grantees of the reporting deadlines. Failure to submit a report could result in denial of future funding requests.

Applicants must be prepared to upload the following documents: 

1. A two-to-four page narrative description of the proposed advocacy project and the amount of funding being requested. Please do not include a comprehensive report written solely by a lobbyist intended to be informational to the society. This is not helpful in our considerations. The narrative should specifically address:

• State society advocacy background – A complete background includes the history of the society’s advocacy efforts and related activities, and a description of both the level of involvement of the society’s leadership and the level of support from the general membership. Narratives should delineate such details as key society members dedicated to advocacy, state society’s political action committee activities, and attendance at grassroots and advocacy training sessions — through the AADA or other sources, and the state society executive director’s attendance at the State Society Executive Conference held in conjunction with the AAD Annual Meeting. Please include all other advocacy objectives for the upcoming legislative session.

• Advocacy plan – An advocacy plan is a detailed explanation of the society’s specific goals and objectives, and the activities planned to meet those goals and objectives. This portion of the narrative should include such things as discussion of the project timeline, advocacy tools, collaborating/supportive organizations (i.e. state medical society), anticipated outcomes, anticipated challenges/difficulties, and political climate (e.g. strength of legislative sponsor, support from committee chair, partisan issues). If applicable, please also include any information on the qualifications of key personnel, including contract lobbyists. Please describe the likelihood of success if the grant is awarded.

• Project budget – A strong projected budget for the advocacy project includes information on anticipated expenses and anticipated income, specifies how the grant funds will be used, and outlines available funds from the society to be dedicated to this project. Societies that show independent financial effort to support their own initiatives receive greater consideration.

2. List of current and upcoming society officers.

3. State society bylaws.

4. Completed W-9 form.

5. Completed form 990.

6. Financial audits (if available).

7. Copy of state society budget from current year and the proposed budget for the next year, showing income, expenses, and reserve accounts.

8. Optional supporting documents: Letters of support, lobbyist contract (if applicable), meeting minutes outlining discussion of proposed activities, advocacy communications from previous years, etc.

Please note: Priority review will be given to state societies that are applying for the first time or have only received one prior grant award. State societies that have received two or more previous grants will not be eligible for funding consideration until all other received applications are evaluated, except at the discretion of the State Policy Committee in the case of extenuating circumstances.